Duterte tells AFP to wait for court orders on Trillanes

AMMAN — There will be no military arrest for embattled opposition senator Antonio Trillanes IV as President Duterte will await the decision of the civilian court on the charges against him. 

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has ordered the military to comply with the judicial process and let the court decide on the fate of Trillanes, who led two anti-government uprisings when he was still a Navy officer. 

"The president decided that he would abide with the rule of law. He will wait for the decision of the court, the regional trial court, on whether it will issue a warrant of arrest," Roque said in a press briefing here.

"He will allow the judicial process to proceed and he will await the issuance of the proper warrant of arrest if there is indeed one to be issued before senator Trillanes is arrested and apprehended," he added. 

Roque said Duterte made the decision after a "lengthy discussion" with Cabinet members on the sidelines of his three-day official visit here. 

Duterte has issued Proclamation 572 voiding the amnesty given to Trillanes by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2010, a move that would revive the rebellion charges against the senator. Officials say Trillanes' amnesty was void from the beginning because of his failure to meet the qualification requirements. They claim that Trillanes did not follow the process in filing for amnesty and refused to admit the crime he committed. 

Trillanes, who led the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula Siege in 2007 to demand the resignation of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, claimed he is being persecuted for being critical of Duterte. Trillanes was a member of the Magdalo, a group of rebel soldiers who accused Arroyo of corruption and electoral fraud. Trillanes has sought protection from Senate leaders and has been staying in the chamber since Wednesday to avoid an arrest. 

The senator has also challenged Duterte's order before the Supreme Court following rumors that the military court martial would soon order his arrest. Malacañang previously said Trillanes' separation from the military would not remove his liability and would not exempt him from court martial proceedings.  

Roque dismissed as "drama" Trillanes' decision to remain in the Senate, saying no one would arrest him unless the court issues a warrant. 

"It is clear that while we are waiting for the decision of the Regional Trial Court on whether to issue a warrant of arrest, the decision of Sen. Antonio Trillanes to stay in the Senate has no basis. Perhaps it is just drama because no one will arrest him without a warrant of arrest," he said. 

Roque to Trillanes: Believe in your myth

Roque insisted that politics had nothing to do with the voiding of Trillanes' amnesty and the president was just implementing the law. He also claimed that politics entered the picture when the amnesty was given to the senator on a "silver platter" by Aquino, his political ally. 

Roque believes the government has a strong case against Trillanes, saying the senator has not presented a copy of his received application for amnesty. 

"The best evidence is the duly received application form. I cannot understand why he does not have a copy of it...That's very important for someone who allegedly applied for amnesty for a capital offense that they should have a copy and I find it hard to believe that he does not have one," the presidential spokesman said. 

Roque also claimed that Trillanes was just imagining things when he claimed that some active military personnel are opposed to Duterte's actions. He said Duterte has done a lot for the military in the first two years of his presidency. 

"Believe in your myth," Roque said. 

Roque said Trillanes' anger towards Duterte may have been related to the senator's failure to convince the president to pick him as runningmate in 2016. He said Trillanes wanted to become the vice presidential candidate of Duterte, who was then mayor of Davao City. 

"If the president was indeed evil as Trillanes claimed him to be, why did he aspire to run as his vice president?" Roque said. 

Roque, a former lawyer of some rebel soldiers who joined the anti-Arroyo uprisings, said he lost his admiration for the Magdalo when Trillanes became a "stooge" of Aquino. 

Roque's tirade against Trillanes is a complete turnaround from his earlier online posts, where he had hailed the then rebel soldier as a hero.

"Nothing can be compared to what Trillanes and his men did. like Ninoy, they were willing to die for this country. Unlike me and others who have only raised voice against evil government, Sonny gave up seven long years of his youth for this country," Roque wrote in a blog post in 2010, referring to Trillanes by his nickname.

"For as long as we have young Filipinos willing to die for this country, there will always be hope for this country. That is the true legacy of Sonny Trillanes and his men."

Roque previously said his personal views no longer matter now that he is the presidential spokesman.